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Vickers-AWD
' AWD ALL WHEEL DRIVE COMPANY LIMITED' 1954-1967 Camberley, Surrey England. VICKERS-AWD Vickers All Wheel Drive Limited 1962-1971 Bilston Wolverhampton and South Marston Swindon, Wiltshire England. CRANE TRAVELLERS (CRANECARRIERS) LIMITED 1971-To Date South Marston, Swindon & Beeston, Leeds England. Company History The company was a subsidiary of shipbuilding, defence and engineering group Vickers which was part nationalised and part privatised in the 1970s during a series of restructuring of the post WWII defence and shipbuilding industry. The company was active from 1966 to 1971, when it was sold off and renamed as Crane Travellers Ltd, under the control of the 600 Group who owned other mechanical and steelworking companies all over the UK. In the 1960s the company took over small specialist''' AWD Company Limited of Camberley who built or rebuilt and produced many vehicles based on popular Bedford, Commer, Ford and Leyland trucks. They also produced a small range of several 'Crane carrier chassis' based on AEC 6X6 vehicles in the 1950s and 1960s and also about 500-600 Ford Thames Trader lorries were converted into 4X4 and 6X6 vehicles for many working purposes. The original AWD Industrial Chassis Series were essentially rebuilt standard lorries with proprietary components retaining their original mechanicals but were modified for offroad drivng most of them with 4WD and 6X6 driven axles. These included several Dumprucks, Fire Engines, Fire Crashtenders and original cranecarriers for several British cranebrands . In the 1960s and 1970s Vickers organization acquired AWD and the two firm were divorced .One side was when Mr Andrews became in charge of the AWD company in the 1960s when they carried on importing and assembling the American made Michigan 4WD Diesel Loader models for the UK Market around 500-600 of them were made in England at the time. Shortly after that the other side was when '''Vickers-AWD acquired the business and decided they would from from Bilston this time to South Marston near Swindon for their improved larger premises and the site of the former Vickers-Armstrong factory. Soon Vickers-AWD company took over the crane vehicle manufacturing and cranecarrier production for many customers like BHCC Iron Fairy, Jones Cranes, Thomas Smith Of Rodley and some models also went for well known Priestman Limited Brothers . Here the new firm developed their brandnew V-Series cranecarriers for many other domestic brandnames, perhaps the only exception must have been Coles Cranes Limited operation who manufactured their own full model range entirely. They were all much improved Industrial Cranecarrier units consisted of a heavy duty chassis with engine and drivetrain in 6x4, 6x6 and 8x4 configurations, some models also featured a low profile Motor Panels Ltd original cab and were a common sight in shipbuilding yards, construction sites, large harbours and heavily built for extreme hardwork and material handling. Then in 1968 Vickers-AWD became another subsidiary of the huge George Cohen Group 600 '''industrial empire who already owned Jones Cranes Limited and other crane makes at the time. At he beginning of the 1970s they also acquired '''Vickers-AWD who moved all their vehicle manufacturing and prototypes made to new larger premises with railway sidings nearby, under brandname of Crane Travellers Limited another similar company this time based at Beeston in Leeds who ceased all offroad truck production to concentrate solely on modern updated cranecarriers and other crane vehicles. Under the new George Cohen Group 600 '''ownership, Crane Travellers Limited were to restart production of genuine Vickers-AWD 4 wheeled, 6 wheeled and 8 wheeled modern cranecarriers only. In 1977 Crane Travellers Limited became a division of the wellknown '''Jones Cranes Limited of Letchworth a crane specialist who also shared part of the cranecarrier manufacturing business with a big choice of Bedford GM Diesel , Cummins Diesel Leyland TD and more powerful Scania V8 Diesel mechanical technology employing the latest hydraulic running gear available between the two firms enough to rival the wellknown giant British Coles Cranes Limited company. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trucks and Buses, by Denis Miller, page 299, Published by Quantum Books, ISBN 1-86160 'VICKERS-AWD Original Cranecarrier Model Range ' VICKERS-AWD Factory Yard in the 1980s.png|A 1970s photo at AWD Company part of the Camberley factory yard Vickers AWD Seddon 134 6X6.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-AWD Seddon 134 6X6 Lorry Diesel A 1970s Vickers-AWD Seddon Lorry 6X6 Diesel.jpg|A rare 1970s Vickers-AWD Seddon 6X6 Lorry Diesel on tests VICKERS-AWD Model Range of the 1980s.png|A 1970s Vickers-AWD 6X6 Industrial Chassis Model Range formely AWD Of Camberley VICKERS AWD IF Amethyst Cranetruck Diesel.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-AWD assembled Iron Fairy Amethyst 15T Cranetruck Hydraulic VICKERS-AWD IF Zircon Cranetruck Diesel.png|A 1970s Vickers-AWD assembled Iron Fairy Zircon 12-15T Cranetruck Hydraulic VICKERS-SMITH LT-10 6X6 Cranetruck.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-AWD Smith LT20 Cranecarrier 6X6 Diesel A 1970s Vickers-AWD Industrial Chassis Cranecarrier 6X6.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-AWD Industrial Chassis 6X6 Cranecarrier awaiting restoration VICKERS-AWD V538 Cranecarrier.JPG|A 1970s Vickers-AWD V518 Cranecarrier 8X4 Diesel 1980s IRON FAIRY Amethyst cranetruck.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-AWD Iron Fairy Amethyst 10-12T Cranetruck Hydraulic 1970s VICKERS-AWD IRON FAIRY Amethyst.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-AWD assembled Iron Fairy Zircon 12T Cranetruck Hydraulic An early 1980s VICKERS-AWD Zircon 15-17 Ton Cranetruck Diesel hydraulic.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-AWD Iron Fairy Zircon 10-12T Cranetruck Diesel Hydraulic VICKERS-AWD Jones cranetruck.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-AWD made Jones KL10 Cranetruck Hydraulic Diesel Jones 461 Vickers AWD cranetruck.JPG|A 1970s Vickers-AWD assembled Jones 400-Series Cranetruck Hydraulic VICKERS-AWD Jones 461 Cranetruck TD.jpg|A 1970s AWD-Vickers assembled Jones Cranes 500-Series Cranetruck Jones 661 Vickers AWD Cranetruck.JPG|A 1970s Vickers-AWD assembled Jones 661 Cranetruck Hydraulic VICKERS-AWD Jones 661 Cranetruck Diesel.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-.AWD assembled Jones 600-Series Cranetruck Diesel VICKERS-AWD Jones 661M Cranetruck.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-AWD assembled Jones 661 Cranetruck Hydraulic VICKERS-AWD Smith LT-20 Army Cranetruck.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-AWD Smith LT15 Army Cranetruck Diesel Hydraulic VICKERS-AWD Smith LT-15 4X4 Cranetruck.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-AWD Smith LT15 4WD Cranetruck Diesel VICKERS-AWD Smith LT-20 Cranetruck.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-AWD Smith LT20 6X4 Cranetruck Diesel Hydraulic VICKERS-AWD Smith LT-15 Cranetruck.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-AWD Smith LT20 Cranetruck Diesel Hydraulic VICKERS-AWD SMITH LT40 Cranetruck.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-AWD Smith Of Rodley LT30 Foden FC Cranetruck VICKERS AWD SMITH LT-30 Cranetruck.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-AWD V500-Series Smith LT30 Cranetruck Diesel Hydraulic VICKERS-AWD Smith LT-30 Cranetruck under restoration.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-AWD Smith LT30 Cranetruck under restoration work 1980s VICKERS-AWD Smith LT35 Cranetruck Diesel.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-AWD Smith LT40 Cranetruck Diesel Hydraulic VICKERS-AWD Smith LT-35 Cranetruck.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-AWD Smith LT40 Cranetruck Diesel Hydraulic VICKERS-AWD Smith LT-50 Cranetruck.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-AWD Smith LT40 Cranetruck Diesel Hydraulic VICKERS-AWD Smith LT-40 Cranetruck.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-AWD Smith LT50 Cranetruck Diesel Hydraulic VICKERS-AWD Smith LT40 Cranetruck Diesel.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-AWD Smith LT Series Cranetrucks in a contractors yard A 1970s Vickers-AWD Jones Cranes model.jpg|Inside the Vickers-AWD factory assembling Jones Cranes 1970s. Vickers-AWD South Marston factory that made aircraft before.jpg|The Vickers-AWD Ltd South Marston factory that formely produced aircraft The former AWD Works now the Honda UK Factory.jpg|The former VICKERS-AWD South Marston factory now HONDA UK Vickers AWD Company Logo.jpg|A 1970s Vickers-AWD Original Nameplate found on their vehicles -603-6 See also * Crane Carrier Corporation * FAUN * list of crane manufacturers * Construction Plant Manufactures References / sources External links Category:Vickers Category:Companies founded in 1966 Category:Special purpose trucks Category:Defunct companies of the United Kingdom Category:Companies based in Wiltshire Category:Crane manufacturers Category:Companies of the United Kingdom